RPG Maker

"Hard? this isn't hard, people."

Wow!! now I, who loves to make games but has never...Well let's just say I've never been a wizard with programming code. Fear not gamer8r! You don't need any code here!!

Okay, this game, just for those of you who don't know what RPG maker does, makes RPGs! wow! it's like Gauntlet DL telling you to "avoid dangerous objects"! Okay, lets stop rambling on and get on to the review:

This game (well, it's not really a game) allows you to first draw your dungeon (every area falls under "dungeon", even towns) and then put in the "events" (the people in the board and actions that the board does). You put in monsters that you customize (hp, attack, what attacks they do, etc.) at a random rate that you set, and give your main characters (also customized by you) items, skills, and magic that you create.

Okay, so the graphics are NES-ish (SNES-ish if I wanted to be really generous), that doesn't matter! The program is easy to use because you select every bit of the game off of menus. Now, some of you are probably thinking "Boy, that sounds really limited", but it isn't. Now, for those of you who don't want to use the pre-made graphics for enemy and character designs, there's Anime maker that allows you to draw people, though I could never quite figure this out.

To show you what you can do, the programmers included a sample game called "Gobli's adventure", that I review here:

Story 10/10
Very original. Okay this goblin named Gobli lives in a "traditional RPG forest" where his job as a "weakling" is to attack heroes so that he can get beaten up and give the game's heroes gold and experience, but this doesn't satisfy him (I wonder why not, that sounds like a great life!) One day the games creator calls him up and tells him that he needs to go to fight somewhere else that's name escapes me at the moment because all of the slimes are sick. This is a fun game that never hesitates to make fun of RPG elements ("You're lucky, you can walk around, but all I get to do is stand here and say "this is common town," that's the only phrase I have.").

Okay, back to the program, after you make your RPG, you can play it (wow, I thought it just sat there) or have someone else play it. (probably better to play someone else's game, it's not much fun once you know all the secrets)

R8ing: fun, and essential to anyone who loves RPG/adventure games

overall: 9/10
Great, but the manual wasn't that clear (or the 2nd one, anyway, the used copy that I bought only had the scenario/anime manual) and I had to figure out a lot by myself. If you get this game, make sure that you have manual 2, the event making is the hardest part to figure out.

buy/rent
This is one you've gotta buy, it takes a VERY long time to make a game with any length to it, and without the disk you can't play the games!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/19/04